Blasphemy
by Never Draven
Summary: Baralai discovers an old relic of Yevon while cleaning and Gippal decides to put it to use. Slight Gippalai but nothing overt.


**A/N:** This all stemmed from a picture I found on a writing prompts community. It takes place shortly after the ending events of X-2 and isn't really all that slashy.

It was an ornate tradition handed down through generations in the temple, but it had become unnecessary, once the lore of the summoning and Fayth had been revealed. This only made it sadder to hold the small, intricate brushes in his hands and to see the silvery gleam of a jeweled box at the back of the drawer.

It had been an easy task given to Baralai, something he could do to help while still recovering from his wounds. In his heart, he knew that it was more busywork while others took on the harder tasks, but, for the moment, he was content to simply have something with which to distract himself. Besides, someone needed to clear away all the clutter from the temples.

Baralai had chosen to start with Djose instead of Bevelle and, though that had caused a few eyebrows to rise, he managed to slip away without too much notice; he supposed it helped that Lady Yuna still held the attention of much of Spira but, really, it was getting all the easier for the once-leaders to find peace and solitude, in their own distinct ways. For Baralai, the simple act of laying aside the trappings of Yevon brought a unique sort of peace, but finding the brushes and small, jeweled box had stirred thoughts perhaps best left at rest.

"Find something interesting?"

The unexpected question startled Baralai and he found himself fumbling to quickly retrieve the scatter of brushes, most of which were now resting against the curved foot of the dresser. By the time he turned back, he found himself being eyed by a very curious Al Bhed.

"It's nothing," he shook his head, but it was obvious that he hadn't convinced Gippal of anything. "Just some old summoning equipment and papers from the priests; I don't think it's really wor—hey!"

"Nothing, huh? Then what're these?"

"Brushes. Some paint. I'm sure you must have seen them before."

"I didn't know paint came in fancy things like this."

"You know the temples," Baralai responded mildly, even if there was a slight undertone of bitterness to his voice. "They always feel the need to overdo things." Relaxing a bit, he leaned back on his hands and simply watched as Gippal investigated the ornate inkwell cushioned inside the box. "You can feel free to use that, if you'd like; the paint should be good for blueprints and the like."

"I don't know about that," Gippal responded as he dipped one of the finer brushes into the ink. "It kinda seems…blasphemous."

"…you're worried about blasphemy?"

"Not like that," Gippal snorted, tossing Baralai a mock-annoyed look. "I meant for the machine blueprints to be sketched out in that Yevon-blessed stuff."

"Then you'll just have to wait to use it on something Yevon-blessed."

"You mean like you?"

"Gippal, I really don't think…"

"But you did just say that I should use it on something Yevon-blessed and there's no chance of finding anything holy in this temple." The Al Bhed paused to smirk and tip his head. "Aside from you."

Baralai sighed. He knew that an argument with Gippal could well last in to the night and he was already rather tired; perhaps there wouldn't be any harm in letting Gippal use a bit of the paint on him, as long as Baralai could quickly wash it off, later. Resigning himself to the inevitable, he held out an arm to Gippal, after he had pulled back the rather long sleeve of his robe. "Oh, go ahead, then."

It didn't go quite as Baralai had expected. It wasn't that he had been anticipating that Gippal would simply fool around or scribble something obscene; it was more that he never dreamed that the Al Bhed could draw something so intricate and so beautiful. The lines were all symmetrical as they filled the coffee-colored skin of his underarm, but they also seemed to form shapes-within-shapes, reaching out to new and unexpected patterns while keeping the uniform quality of the whole. The design ended up filling nearly the entire underside of Baralai's forearm and, by the time Gippal had finished, most of the temple had fallen to the quiet of sleep.

"Gippal, it's…"

The Al Bhed cut him short before Baralai could even begin to murmur his awed praise for this beautiful work of art. "It's the newest design for the main circuit of something I'm working on," Gippal explained. He wore his usual cocky smirk as he worked on cleaning the brush, but Baralai thought that he could see something else behind the swirled green of his friend's eye. "I needed to get the design out of my head and onto something solid."

"But on my arm? I really don't know," Baralai answered as he shook his head. "Won't you need to copy it out, again, on paper you keep?"

"That's not gonna be a problem."

"And why do you say that?"

"''cos it just means that you gotta stay here till it's finished."


End file.
